Social media addiction now a health challenge

PATNA: Social media addiction (SMA) is an emerging health concern, particularly among children and adolescents.PATNA: According to experts, this addiction disrupts adolescents' daily routine, distracts them from books and incites them to prefer loneliness even among friends and family members.Head of psychiatry department at Nalanda Medical College and Hospital, Dr Santosh Kumar, said though the World Health Organisation has already notified the “internet gaming disorder” as a mental illness, the sudden behavioural changes in children and teenagers due to overindulgence in social media is an emerging health challenge. Apparently, shedding all hesitancy, people have now begun visiting hospitals and private clinics in search of treatment for getting their wards out from the grip of SMA symptoms. Others prefer tele consultancy with experts.“Depression, anxiety, mood swings, self-absorption, lack of concentration on work and irritability are some of the SMA symptoms in adolescents,” he said.Dr Santosh suggested lifestyle changes, normal activities like studies, physical games, family get together at dining tables and even interacting on their favourite topics as reformatory approaches.Dr Niska Sinha, neuropsychiatrist and assistant professor at psychiatry department at Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS), said around 200 people visited the hospital in one month complaining of social media addiction.“Such cases started showing an increasing trend during Covid pandemic when online mode of teaching and easy access to cellphones kept adolescents hooked to social media,” she said.“Oppositional defiant behaviour, mood disorders, access to contents not intended for their age like pornography, risk of gaming addictions, relationship issues leading to traps of unlawful activities and the psychological compulsion of FOMO (fear of missing out) have become a big problem,” she added.Head of psychology department of Patna University and former director of Institute of Psychological Research and Service, Sheo Sagar Prasad, described SMA as a marked behavioural departure of adolescents at the cost of health and education and even family bondage.He, however, didn’t hold children alone responsible for it. “They begin to learn most of the behaviours from imitating elders. Today, there is hardly a home where all its members, including women, keep distance from social networking sites,” he said.Private School and Children Welfare Association (PSCWA) has also taken note of SMA in students at city schools. National president of PSCWA, S Shamayal Ahmad, said the association was preparing a module for classroom counselling sessions in 25,000 private schools in the state.He said behavioural changes under SMA influence could adversely affect discipline in educational institutions. “We will send expert teams, including psychologists and motivators, to all private schools for holding awareness s